People keep talking about media markets as they are and the smart media people behind the scenes influencing all these decisions, if they are that smart (and i believe some of them are), then they’d understand the value of adding a decent media market along with a better overall brand and how that elevates the “decent” media market.
Does that put things over the top for someone like the B12? Maybe not, but…
Any road game at UNLV suddenly becomes THE road game to attend for opponents. Not ideal if you’re UNLV but you’re happy to sell the seats. More people in stadiums creates better TV. Add to that the influence a conference like the B12 would have to actually create more eyeballs on TVs within that “decent” market… you think UNLV vs BYU, Utah, Arizona, ASU, Colorado, or almost any other opponent in the B12 wouldn’t pretty much double viewership within that “decent” market? When UNLV stinks who the hell cares about Utah State, San Jose State, CSU, pretty much everyone but Boise?
I just find it hard to believe that none of that would be considered.
I’d also toss in that right now the hierarchy of conferences goes SEC and B10… then B12… then ACC. When the SEC and B10 start looking to expand again they’ll be coming after more B12 schools than ACC… adding a couple teams from the west makes sense to guard against future defections.